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Hilux, Toyota SA and De Villiers to return to Dakar next year

The 2016 Dakar Hilux

Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz

Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie

Glyn Hall

12th November 2015

By: Irma Venter

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) will support three race vehicles in the 2016 Dakar Rally, which takes place from January 2 to 16 in Argentina and Bolivia.

TSAM has seen drivers Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz achieve second (2013), fourth (2014) and, again, second place (2015) over the last three years of sponsorship.

The team raced as the Toyota Imperial South Africa Dakar team.

The 2016 team will, however, compete under the new name of Toyota Gazoo Racing SA.

TSAM says the new name reflects a move by the Toyota Motor Corporation to unify its global racing efforts.

“The word Gazoo has a long and proud history in Japan, and is synonymous with driving pleasure, fun and racing excellence.”

The team’s new name will be displayed on three new-generation Hilux bakkies, which will make their debut on the general market in South Africa in February next year.

The racing vehicles will be crewed by De Villiers and his German navigator Von Zitzewitz; South African Cross-Country champions Leeroy Poulter and navigator Rob Howie; as well as Saudi racing sensation Yazeed Al Rajhi and German navigator Timo Gottschalk.

Al Rahji and Gottschalk campaigned a privately entered Toyota Hilux during the 2015 Dakar Rally, and impressed all by running in third place until a technical problem halted their progress.

“It is an exciting time for us,” notes TSAM sales and marketing senior VP Calvyn Hamman.

“We have done a lot of development on the race Hilux this year. Now, with a three-car team, we feel that we are in a better position than ever to take on the Dakar.”

“The Dakar remains an amazingly tough race,” adds Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team principal Glyn Hall.

“There are many surprises along the way, and winning is never easy. With that said, the latest evolution of our race Toyota Hilux, together with a highly talented and motivated crew, certainly gives us a great shot at it. But if there’s one thing you can count on at Dakar, it’s that there’s no such thing as a sure thing.”

The New Race Hilux
“A race vehicle is never finished – you keep evolving it until the flag drops, then you make the best of what you have at that point,” says Hall.

The Dakar-specification Toyota Hilux has seen significant development over the last five years.

The first version was essentially an evolution of the cross-country race bakkie developed for the 2011 South African Off-Road Championship, as it was then known.

Since then, the petrol vehicle has seen constant evolution thanks to an extended testing programme and technological advances.

While the bodywork and livery might be the easiest changes to spot, the biggest change lies under the bonnet.

This year the team will be fielding the all-new Lexus RC-F V8 engine.

This new engine sports more efficient combustion and lower friction, which, together with a wider degree of cam timing and electric inlet control, offer improvements over the previous engine.

With that said, the FIA still imposes restrictions in terms of airflow into petrol engines for cross-country racing, and the new engine had to be adapted to make the most of the smaller influx of air into the engine.

“By working with the exhaust system, inlet manifold and engine mapping system, we managed to coax the most out of the engine without compromising its reliability,” explains Hall.

The result is a “flexible, reliable V8 motor” that uses new technology, such as a combination of direct injection and port injection, to generate in the region of 285 kW of power and more than 600 Nm of torque.

The torque curve is flat, with most of the torque available from as low as 2 000 rpm, giving the Toyota Hilux the grunt it needs to tackle the Dakar’s big dunes.

A new transmission system is also in place, utilising a new gearbox that has seen significant testing during the 2015 cross-country season.

The transmission features a larger centre differential, despite being lighter than the system used in previous years.

For 2016, the Toyota Hilux also features a new controller area network electronic power distribution system, which is lighter and more flexible than the traditional wiring harnesses used in the past.

The suspension of the 2015 Dakar Hilux has largely been carried over to the new version.

“Overall we are confident that the latest evolution of the Hilux is ready to face the 2016 Dakar Rally. Unfortunately we’ll only really know how we stack up to the competition when the race gets going, but we have every reason to be confident,” says Hall.

 

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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